


And Shake The Universe

by TheBizarreHairTrio



Category: The Lobby
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Canon LGBTQ Character, Canon LGBTQ Female Character, Canon LGBTQ Male Character, Drug Dealing, Dysfunctional Relationships, Everyone Is Gay, Everyone Needs A Hug, Everyone is LGBTQ, Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts, Human Trafficking, I Don't Even Know, Judas Knows Everything, Judas and Nine Are Almost Gods, Minor Angst, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, Not Canon Compliant, Other, Slow Build, Superhero Syndrome, The Psychology of Superheroes, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, YOU THOUGHT IT WAS GONNA BE CUTE AND CUDDLY, You thought wrong, at all, canon is gonna pull a knife on me for this i'm denouncing their beautiful friendships, canonically, first chapter is very tame and not at all indicative of the rest of it, for fanfic, multi-chapter, read the goddamn source I'm literally right, some dark stuff!, sorry - Freeform, starts slow slowly gain momentum, they're all friends but they're also bad friends, truly i am despicable, wait til the REAL shit does down
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-03 13:56:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21180560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBizarreHairTrio/pseuds/TheBizarreHairTrio
Summary: In the city of Mountain's Alley, crime runs rampant, chased down by the up and coming array of superheroes, ushering in a new age rife with unexplainable powers and peculiarities. "All is well", is the city's motto, so long as it's protected by its gallery of superpowered guardians. But even heroes have weak spots, and some threats will hit closer to home than they think...





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> Chill chapter mostly just fluff. Action starts next chapter probably

“Do you ever wonder about the stars?” 

Gerard sat up in the grass, tilting his head to meet gazes with Judas, stretched out beside him with their arms pillowed behind their head. He glanced up at the night sky momentarily, returning his questioning stare to his datemate. 

“What do you mean?” he asked, leaning back on his elbows. 

“I mean…” Judas slipped one of their arms out from beneath their head and reached upwards, arms outstretched as if they were attempting to grasp the sky. “They're so far away…” Their head lolled to the side, connecting their and Gerard's gazes once again, before their eyes skittered away, back to the stars. “I feel like they get lonely, so far away from each other.” 

Gerard stared at the other for a moment, then looked back up to the sky, trying to see what they saw. “I think the stars are used to being lonely… They never had any need for companionship in the first place, and don't understand loneliness in the way humans perceive it. You know?” 

Judas let out a heavy sigh, dropping their arm onto their chest, eyelids lowering slightly. “I guess so… But that is, in its own way, sad too, isn't it?”

Humming to himself, Gerard got to his feet, brushing stray blades of grass of his jeans. He offered a hand to Judas with a smile. “Come on, I'll walk you home, if you'll let me.”

Grabbing him by his wrist and dragging themselves up, Judas laughed in response. “You're so old fashioned! Don't worry, I can take care of myself. But I won't say no to an escort.” They wiggled their eyebrows playfully, snickering as their boyfriend rolled his eyes at them. 

Both of their hands reached out at once, slipping fingers through the gaps between the other’s fingers and linking their hands together. 

“Do you wanna meet up with Quin tomorrow?” questioned Judas as the pair made their way to their apartment. “I think Noah and Runo are gonna be there, not sure about everyone else, but she just wants to hang out and relax.”

Gerard shrugged. “If you're going, I'll go. Have you signed up for classes yet?” He raised an eyebrow judgmentally at them. 

“Don't look at me like that!” they complained, huffing slightly. “And I did, in fact, so don't go all ‘arched eyebrow of doom’ on me. I have all my requirements, don't be all disappointed in me. It hurts me, right here.” They tapped the spot on their jacket with an index finger, pouting exaggeratedly. 

“I didn't mean it like that!” he denied, swinging their intertwined hands back and forth. “I just was worried you might not get the classes you wanted, and ended up on the waiting list.”

They hmm’ed back at him. “Okay, I guess that makes sense. You're forgiven.” Abruptly stopping in their tracks, they turned on their heel and wrapped their arms around his midsection, kissing him lightly, before pulling back with a smile. “This is where we stop!” They gestured up at the apartment building behind them.

He covered up a mildly disappointed expression in return, leaning back in to kiss them again. “Okay,” he breathed, their faces so close together that Judas saw the constellations of the sky reflected in Gerard's eyes.

“Okay,” they whispered back, stepping away and waving, before disappearing into the building. Gerard stood there for several moments, staring up at the sky with his hands in his pockets, and slowly closed his eyes.

“Yeah…” he murmured. “I do wonder about the stars.” 

* * *

“NOAH, WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO TAKE THE BREAD OUT OF THE OVEN WITH YOUR BARE HANDS??” yelled Quin, murderous concern in her eyes as she headed over to said blue haired male, immediately snatching his hands away from the open oven. Runo and Gerard exchanged amused glances, while Judas simply full blown dissolved into laughter at Noah's expense.

He cringed as Quin approached. “Well, I was just like… Let’s get this bread? You know?” 

She scowled at him, hands on her hips. “Memes won't save you now! Your hands would've been burnt, and then we'd have to drive you to the hospital, and it'd be super painful! Very painful! It will hurt. A lot.”

"Also, I would laugh at you the entire fucking time,” added Judas, smirking at Noah with their hands tucked behind their head. 

“Play nice, kids,” Runo remarked jokingly, grabbing oven mitts like a sensible person and taking the bread out that way.

“Yes, mum,” the rest of the kitchen’s occupants echoed in varying tones of voice. Snickering lightly, the self-proclaimed “mom” of the group set the two loaf pans on the stove top, placing the mitts on the counter. “How long does it take for bread to cool, again?”

“For loaf pans, it's about an hour,” replied Quin, turning her attention from Noah to Runo.

“So, in an hour, we can get this bread!” declared Runo, looking vaguely proud of herself. 

“Yay,” uttered Noah, not looking entirely enthused. 

Gerard hopped up on the kitchen island, swinging his legs and grabbing a handful of chips from the bag. “Nobody else could make it?”

Quin shook her head. “No. Nine’s been busy with his job, Kitkat has an interview, Pam’s gone for the weekend, and Dave got an internship at a clinic, so he’s starting there.”

“Good for Dave!” said Judas, around the lip of their glass of guava juice. “Kitkat’s got an interview?”

“I remember her mentioning that a bit ago,” recalled Noah, scratching at the back of his head. “It's for that big university, you know, the one you couldn't get into?”

“Burn,” muttered Runo under her breath.

Judas gasped exaggeratedly, swooning in a dramatic fashion and draping themselves over Gerard's legs. “How cruel of you to bring up such a terrible memory! I had nearly succeeded in suppressing it! Babe, hold me!” 

“Shame on you, for bringing up such a horrible experience for them!” Quin jumped in, playing along. 

Wheezing slightly, Noah snorted. “You're taking their side on this, Quin? After all we've been through!” 

“I can't let this insult slide, Noah!” declared Quin, just as flamboyantly. “Just know… I will always love you.”

There was silence for several moments, before they all started giggling, Quin leaning on Runo while Noah pressed his forehead against the refrigerator and suppressed his laughter. Judas snickered, still buried in Gerard's arms, and he laughed as well. 

“It's not even that funny!” snorted Noah in between short bursts of laughter.

“And yet, we're laughing!” 


	2. II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has begun

Pounding footsteps and heavy, erratic breathing permeated the silent air.

An errant criminal took a sharp turn at the corner, dashing into the alley and taking a running start at the chain link fence, scaling it in an instant and disappearing deeper into the city's maze. 

He glanced back over his shoulder every few seconds, sweat dripping down his face, before a loud bang echoed throughout the alley. The body collapsed, sprawled on the concrete, just as a vicious tornado tore throughout the space between the buildings, tearing up stray waste and shaking the dumpsters and stairwells. A figure in white dropped from the rooftops, masked face staring down at the corpse.

The woman made a dissatisfied noise, costumed figure reminiscent of a swan. “It's that hitman again.” Her fists clenched. “Why don't they understand the value of human life, even if that person is evil?! This man was not irredeemable.”

She sighed, turning away and scaling the building, running across rooftops as the fog rolled in. 

A figure melted out of the shadows, dark green trench coat whirling with their movement. A gleaming sniper rifle was held in hand, their breaths filtered through their helmet. A booted foot nudged the corpse

The figure seemed to sigh.

“Heroes.”

* * *

“Dave!”

The purple haired male turned around to face the speaker, Pam grinning at him. He beamed back, meeting her halfway.

“Hey, Pam! What are you doing here?”

She looked sheepish. “I sort of just felt like seeing the cats? And also you, to see how you're doing!”

He stared back at her, deadpan. “Mmmm…”

She cringed, leaning in to whisper, “Okay, that's a lie. When’s your lunch break?”

He frowned at her, turning to look at the clock. “In about… half an hour. There's a sandwich place two streets over, so wait over there? Please.”

She nodded, face serious, and quickly left, leaving Dave behind to sigh heavily.

Thirty minutes later, as promised, found both Dave and Pam sitting at a table, Pam sipping on what was left of her drink as Dave started on his sandwich.

“The news hasn't announced it yet, but one of the guys who tried to rob the museum last night managed to escape me,” she began in a low voice. Dave’s forehead creased, and he swallowed.

“You were active last night? I thought you said you wanted to take the weekend off.”

She winced, smiling a tad self-consciously. “Well, I wanted to stretch my legs, and I saw them go in…?”

“You went to stretch your legs… in your suit.”

She winced again. “Okay, maybe I got bored! Not important, because the guy that got away… I didn't manage to get there in time, and…” she trailed off, pausing to take a sip from her drink.

Dave pondered for a moment, before it dawned on him. “You don't mean to say… It was Nexus?”

Huffing in response, she leaned back and crossed her arms. “I can only assume. Literally, a second earlier, and I could've caught the criminal  and confronted that guy!”

“Ehh… I wouldn't be too sure about that.”

“Why not?”

“Phoenix told me that the one time he attempted to arrest Nexus, he ended up almost dead. Honey had to reverse time and drag him out of there just to keep him alive.”

Face pallid, Pam stared down at the table, looking frustrated with herself. “Nexus is really that dangerous?”

Dave sighed, nudging her foot with his as a show of reassurance. “I know you're newer to this hero business, and that's okay. Nexus has been around longer, and he's always been a thorn in our sides. We never really know if he's going to play hero or villain. He's fickle like that.”

“He's really a problem, isn't he…” She sighed, standing up from her chair and smiling down at Dave. “Thanks for listening to me, Dave. It means a lot, and… You gave me a lot to think about.”

He smiled back. “Stay safe, Pam. And take the night off, I'll handle the night traffic.”

She nodded. “Will do!” And with that, she left, Dave staring after her, then turning back to his sandwich.

He shook his head. “Jeez, being a hero can be so tiring…”

* * *

A phone spun on the tip of a finger, teetering over and plummeting down, snatched out of the air almost immediately. A sigh echoed throughout the room, and the muted clicking of heels approached the doors.

The doors opened soundlessly, welcoming in a blonde woman in a blouse and pencil skirt. She smiled plastically, clutching a tablet to her side.

“Master, Mr. Song has sent a vehicle.”

A groan sounded in response, and the phone is hurled straight at the woman’s face. She caught it inches from her face, expression never changing from her manufactured smile.

“He would like to initiate an exchange.”

There was silence, before the master pushed themselves up, languidly stretching into a stand and heading for the doors, taking their phone from the woman’s outstretched hand.

“What is he offering?” They hummed, silent footfalls on the marble tiles.

“He offers a significant percentage of the profit made from this particular operation.”

“Just the drugs?”

“Weapons, as well. He understands that he does not have the monopoly on humans, yet.”

“And I suppose what he wants is related to his ambition?”

There was a pause. “He does not want information, Master.”

“Then what does he want?”

“He wants your… assistance.”

A smirk pulled at their lips, parting them to morph into a grin. “He does, does he? How intriguing.”

The two reached the end of the hallway, the woman watching on as her boss ruffled their hair, pushing it back and slipping on dark shades. Their grin stayed unchanged, as they brought up their hand to twist in her short hair and yanked at it, grin widening as they stared into her blank smile.

“Carol,” Judas said delightedly, “let’s have fun with the heroes, shall we?”


End file.
